Nagoya Court chides Mayor for withholding funds from controversial art exhibition

Asahi Shimbun file photo NAGOYA : The high court chided Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura for withholding funds from an art exhibition he found offensive.

The Nagoya High CourtNagoya High Court on December 2 upheld a lower court ruling that ordered the Nagoya city government to pay about 33.8 million yen $252,000 that it withheld from the organizing committee for the Aichi Triennale 2019.

The exhibit shut down within a few days after protests and threats of violence if it continued to be held.

The Nagoya city government was part of the organizing committee that included the Aichi prefectural government. Nagoya decided to contribute 171 million yen toward the event, but only raised around 137 million yen after it objected to the After Freedom of Expression? Kawamura took offense to a video of portraits of well-known people being burned, including a photo of Emperor Hirohito, posthumously known as Emperor Showa. Kawamura said the exhibit trampled on the emotions of the Japanese people. In 2020, the organizing committee filed a lawsuit against Nagoya seeking the payment of the rest, and the Nagoya District CourtNagoya District Court in May ruled that the city government should cough up the rest.

The district court ruled that artistic endeavors should not be dismissed simply because they can cause discomfort or repulsion among viewers.

In appealing that ruling, the Nagoya city government argued that the exhibit lacked political neutrality and was a form of harassment. It argued that public funds for such an exhibit would lead to the risk of losing the trust of local residents and there was a rational basis for Kawamura s decision not to pay.

The district court order was upheld by the Nagoya High Court and said it was unavoidable if art causes discomfort among those who view it. The court also ruled that Kawamura's decision to withhold partial payment on grounds that the contents of the exhibit violated the public interest overstepped his discretionary power. Kawamura was not allowed to legitimize the decision to withhold payments, according to the high court.

Yoko Shida, professor of constitutional and speech law at Musashino Art University in Tokyo, said that if public entities are allowed to ban exhibits they do not like or withhold subsidies after the fact, public support for arts will be lost and avenues for displaying art works and viewing them will be lost. She said the latest ruling should serve as a guide to prevent such acts.